Los Angeles (AFP)
Victim of its success, Disney's new video-on-demand platform experienced technical misses for its launch on Tuesday that prevented many customers from accessing its gigantic catalog, from the first Mickey cartoons to the new series "Star Wars".
"Disney +" is the response of the world's number one entertainment giant streaming such as Netflix or Amazon have come to shake the past few years the routine of Hollywood studios.
The service went online Monday through Tuesday on TVs, tablets, smartphones and other screens in the United States and Canada, with thousands of films and series produced by Disney, Pixar, Marvel , Lucasfilm ("Star Wars") and National Geographic.
Disney CEO Bob Iger took Napoleon's accents at the foot of the Egyptian pyramids, celebrating "a historic moment for our company, marking a new era of innovation and creativity."
A momentum quickly cooled by a series of messages posted on social networks by subscribers unable to connect to this coveted service.
"Consumer demand for Disney + has exceeded our high expectations," told AFP a spokesman for Disney. "We are happy with this incredible reaction and are working to quickly solve the problem in progress.Thank you for your patience," apologized the firm with big ears.
Screenshots posted on Twitter and other social networks show the message "Can not connect to Disney +", along with an image of the animated film "Ralph's Worlds" and an invitation to retry the connection.
Others complained about the long waiting period to join Disney + technical services.
Yet impatient fans had been watching until the early hours of November 12 to be among the first to see "The Mandalorian", the new television series taking place in the world of "Star Wars", certainly the most emblematic of rare original creations proposed by Disney + for its launch.
The first episode, only 35 minutes long, was considered by the Los Angeles Times as "entertaining but risk-free", "rich in spectacular special effects and extraterrestrial shootings, a bit short. in terms of the plot ".
The new episodes will air every Friday, and the first season of "The Mandalorian" has eight in total.
- "We admire them" -
The launch of this new service is a bet for Disney, which wants to consolidate all its film and television content on this exclusive platform.
Until now, the big studios were just pocketing billions of dollars by selling their broadcast rights to Netflix, Amazon or other players in the internet and cable.
Disney will give up some $ 5 billion in revenue on such fees to charge subscribers directly now, putting forward a very competitive offer: $ 6.99 per month, or $ 12.99 with access to the Hulu platform and ESPN + sports channels.
Starting next week, Disney + will be deployed in Australia and New Zealand, followed by Western Europe in March 2020. The company expects 60 to 90 million subscribers worldwide by 2024.
The Disney group achieved this year a turnover of more than 69.5 billion dollars, up 17%.
Netflix boss Reed Hastings welcomed his new opponent most graciously. "They do not worry us, we admire them," he said at a conference in New York last week. "I'm going to subscribe, they have great shows," he said.
The duel should not be less bloody so Netflix and other platforms are doomed to lose some of their programs. Netflix still holds the rights for "The Return of the Jedi" in the United States but Disney + will be "the exclusive place of streaming for films released by Walt Disney Studios from 2019".
Warner Bros, a subsidiary of AT & T, will adopt a similar strategy by launching its service "HBO Max" in May 2020, just like Universal with "Peacock" next year.
"There are going to be a lot of players on the field," said Clark Spencer, president of Disney's animation studios.
"But I think that with the extent of our catalog and talented authors we have, we will really stand out," he told AFP at the world premiere of "The Queen of Snow 2 "in Los Angeles.
© 2019 AFP